Farewell Interview with LINES Ballet Dancer Maya Harr

After eight heartfelt years dancing with LINES Ballet, this will be Maya Harr’s last season. Maya first joined the company back in 2016 after participating in the LINES Ballet Summer Program. Since then, she has shared her poetic spirit and grounding wisdom with us and audiences across the world. She will be dearly missed.

To celebrate her final home season, we asked Maya to reflect on her growth, takeaways, and advice for future dancers. Share in Maya’s memories with us before she takes the stage April 5–14 at the Blue Shield of California Theater for LINES Ballet’s Spring Season.

Interview by Erin McKay | Videos by Jamie Lyons

What do you hope to leave the company with?

I found a note I wrote for myself during my first year with LINES. It reads, “I feel the best way to change is to sit idly by and act honestly. Truth can do the hard parts. Make all your decisions based on the idea that you are honoring your highest self.” I hope to walk away knowing I honored my younger self’s words. So long as we go through life being truthful, we can expect innate growth in the right direction. I also hope I have left a legacy of honesty at LINES Ballet, one that gives dancers permission to come only as they are, share only what they have, and know that it is plenty.

LINES Ballet Company Dancer Maya Harr jumping into the air while engulfed and wrapped in lavender, shimmery fabric

How has Alonzo King challenged and inspired you?

What have your peers in the company taught you?

My peers have taught me that I am important. They have taught me that even in my quietest moments I have a voice. Being in a group of people like this, a group of brilliant individuals all completely unique but threaded together by an insanely durable string, is rare. Most people will go their whole lives without feeling this type of unity, one that follows us on and off the stage. I think of Aspen Trees that range for miles but are all connected under the ground through their roots, creating an immense singular organism. I don’t think I will ever again find a place of such belonging, but I am one of the lucky ones for having found it at all.

LINES Ballet Company Dancer Maya Harr crouching in a low position with arms extended behind her torso and fingertips touching the back wall; symbols created from light are projected onto Maya’s body and the back wall

LINES Ballet Company Dancer Maya Harr on relevé with her other leg in passé while on top of a curved, raised step; Maya holds onto the curved, white wall behind her with one hand, while her other arm extends up past the top of the wall

How have you grown as an artist within LINES Ballet?

What has dance taught you so far?

The only way I could accurately answer this question is if I witnessed myself in a parallel dimension without dance, in which I would not actually be this version of myself at all. It is impossible to separate myself from dance enough to evaluate who I am because of it. I think from my first breath, dance has been a part of who I am. It is like being asked how your parents shaped who you are. Some of it is nature and some is nurture; dance is both part of my nature and my nurture.

LINES Ballet Company Dancer Maya Harr jumping amidst branches against a gray background

LINES Ballet Company Dancer Maya Harr dancing on stage in Alonzo King’s work “SUTRA;” Maya is on the floor with one leg extended out to the side as her fingertips rest on the ground; Babatunji sits behind her on stage and observes

How would you describe your time in rehearsals with the company?

What advice would you like to leave to the next generation of LINES Ballet dancers?

To the next generation of LINES dancers, I would say something that I would tell my 18-year-old self: be free. It is the greatest gift and act of compassion you can give yourself when everyone around you is telling you what to do and who to be. We are often paralyzed by perceived requirements and expectations, but we don’t need to always listen to them. We are the most effective and realized versions of ourselves when we allow ourselves to be free of the influence of others and our own self-conscious tendencies and instead follow our intuition and innate creativity. Trust that growth and joy are readily available in the pureness of freedom.

LINES Ballet Company Dancer Maya Harr, sitting elegantly on the floor wrapped in a golden shimmery fabric, both legs are extended out with one on the floor, the other lifted slightly up and bent at the knee

What do you want to do next?

I plan to go to school and study in STEM so that I am put into a position where I can help the planet. I’d love to be a part of putting things back where they’re supposed to be—specifically, moving plant and animal species from endangered lists back into their native habitats. My hope is that in whatever I’m doing, I’m helping the world in some way.

LINES Ballet Company Dancer Maya Harr extends one arm out while one knee bends and her golden, flowing dress wafts up in waves to cover half of her face

Spring Season 2024

Join us and give Maya Harr a roaring send-off during LINES Ballet’s Spring Season, where the company presents a triple bill of works by artistic director Alonzo King. Audiences will enjoy the world premiere of SPRING, 2013’s Concerto for Two Violins, and a reimagining of The Collective Agreement—an acclaimed collaboration with jazz composer Jason Moran and light installation artist Jim Campbell. King’s choreography pairs with music recorded live by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, with Moran on piano. Performances run April 5–14, 2024, at the Blue Shield of California Theater.

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